sutton046

With the Big Flight and the Short Flight in place, it was time to make and fit the two sets of Winding treads which take the staircase around the two corners. The positions of the lower winders, as marked on the full scale drawing. The positions of the upper winders, as marked on the full scale drawing. Chopping the housings for the treads and riser boards on the appropriate angles and positions was a tricky job, which I had done before assembling the posts in the Short Flight. The nosings and riser board behind were fitted, then the next pair below. Nosings with floorboards behind were to be used rather than full solid treads, as the widest tread would be 550mm (22") at the widest point - much too wide due to potential movement. So nosings were made with a rebate at the back to take the floorboards to be used to complete the triangular treads. This would be a more stable construction methodology. Using my trusty No. 5 1/2 jack plane to clean up and fit the angled rear faces of ...

Some months after the Big Flight was installed, the time had come for the Short Flight to be added. Much had happened in that period, including the installation of the underfloor heating, the laying of the jarrah floor over the top, the building and defining of the new wall and the opening in the upper floor, the plastering and gyprocking of walls and ceilings, and more. With the plastering of the walls completed and now dry enough, I was looking forward to working on the stairs again. This staircase  will have two sets of winding treads, separated by a pair of normal straight treads - which I shall refer to here as the Short Flight.  Above the second set of winders will be the Big Flight. Below the first set of winders will be a couple of straight treads which will give a sense of "spilling out" into the hallway, wrapping around to meet the wall on either side of the staircase. Of course, then there's the handrail and the ballustrading upstairs! There's a way to go ...

The staircase I am building completes it's ascent with a big straight flight, with Tread Nos 11 - 20. The whole staircase will be a very functional and beautiful feature in an 1930's Art Deco home which is being renovated. Lucky me ...  I am blessed with the task of providing a significant amount of the carpentry, joinery, and cabinetwork within the building. It's such a privilege! The planning process is outlined in an earlier post: A Staircase Saga, Part 2. Getting Started. Having done the planning, then bought and dimensioned the stringers, it was time to get stuck into building the big flight. This would be the first part of the staircase build, as it would determine the position of the opening on the top floor. It would need to be in place before the plasterers and gyprockers could do their thing and would become part of the structure of the building once everything had been built around it. It would be in place for some months before the rest of the staircase could b...

This a bit like the Star Wars movies saga. The first post I did on this Staircase Saga came midway through the story, and now we have gone back to the beginning with this, the second post! Getting started. First you need somewhere requiring a set of stairs. My customer has been doing a renovation on her lovely Art Deco double brick and tile home from the 1930s. This has involved extending out the back and going up - putting on a second storey. Hence the need for a staircase!  I have the plans, but plans are always theoretical. There is never the level of accuracy that you need for building a staircase in a defined and confined space. The architect has the basic idea on the plan, but my task is to convert the concept to reality, in conjunction with the customer's ideas and preferences. A photo of part of the architects' building plan. The concept.  These stairs would start in the hallway with treads 1 & 2 leading to a set of winders (Winding treads go around a corner, radi...

I really enjoy building staircases. Yes, the finished product will be functional, very beautiful, and a feature in the house. However, it's the journey I enjoy the most - the process of getting to the end product. The stairs I'm currently building in a renovated 1930's Art Deco house are very tricky, complex, and really testing my skills. I like that!! The "cornerstone" of the whole staircase is a trio of newel posts which take the stairs up and through an opening in the wall and provide the corner "hubs" for two sets of winders, connected by a pair of straight steps. Today I did the test fit for this complex trio. Tomorrow I get to glue and fit them in place. Up through the hole in the wall. Cramps used to do the test fit. There's no room for error...  The tulip motive in the balustrading is a copy from the original entry statement in the hallway from which the new stairs will ascend. Pictured below. In the 1930's, some big velvet curtains may h...

Aahh!... another set of stairs...   Amid all the different types of woodwork I do, what I enjoy about building stairs is the brain challenge they provide - particularly in the planning and setting out phase. One of my latest jobs has been to build a set of external stairs for a client. The task was to plan and build a set of stairs which would fit into a particular space on an existing building which was undergoing significant renovations. The stairs would comply with the Building Code of Australia, and made primarily from recycled jarrah. That's the space available to build the stairs ... in front of the red brick wall. View from the top looking down. The structure would have to keep 1.5m off the fence line. Planning the job. Having taken measurements on site, it was then down to the planning stage - which always involves doing scale drawings on my trusty drawing board. I have never got into CAD drawing on the computer. I still like the old...